


What does the Stampler residence and an octopus have in common?

by thewonderchild



Series: Father-Son Bonding [1]
Category: Dungeons and Daddies (Podcast)
Genre: Character Study, Gen, Ron likes the aquarium, drinking game! take a shot every time i say aquarium, fun facts about marine life, just kidding don't do that, minor angst but it's cool, samantha just wants everyone to get along, set pre forgotten realms, terry jr is in it to touch the sea urchins
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-28
Updated: 2020-07-28
Packaged: 2021-03-06 04:41:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,747
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25567630
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thewonderchild/pseuds/thewonderchild
Summary: Whenever Ron notices Terry Jr is having a hard time, he takes him to the aquarium. Terry Jr only goes because his mom told him to and they've got Dippin' Dots and frosted lemonade.
Relationships: Ron Stampler & Terry Jr.
Series: Father-Son Bonding [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1854547
Comments: 21
Kudos: 91





	What does the Stampler residence and an octopus have in common?

**Author's Note:**

> hey! I wrote this at 1 am with next to no editing kind of tipsy because me and my best friend were having a conversation about Ron and Terry Jr's relationship and I vibe with this idea tbh  
> please let me know about any glaring grammatical errors! Also sorry about the pithy title I couldn't come up with anything besides "Ron takes Terry Jr to the aquarium and cries a little"

The first time Ron tried to take Terry Jr to the aquarium, Terry Jr refused him outright. He's in seventh grade, and Ron had just married his mother, which Terry Jr was Absolutely Not Happy About. He understood that his dad would have wanted her to move on and be happy, whatever that meant for her, but... why Ron? He was such a weird guy, and was clearly trying to be Terry Jr's dad. No need, he already had a dad, thank you very much.

Plus, he had a test in science class tomorrow, and he needed to get a B or above to play soccer next weekend. So no thanks.

The next morning before leaving for work, his mom sits him down at the table. She looks him straight in the eye, focus unwavering, and asks him to go to the aquarium with Ron.

"Sweetie, please. I'm not asking you to love him, not right away--" Not ever, Terry Jr thinks to himself, but he doesn't want to make his mom cry, "--but he's trying to care about you, and this is how he knows how to do it. I'll even give you some cash so you can get some ice cream or lemonade while you're there, okay?"

Terry Jr thinks it over for the rest of the day, weighing the pros and cons of his mother's suggestion. On one hand, he'd have to hang out with Ron. On the other, the aquarium has that ice cream that comes in little balls and gets stuck to your tongue. Plus, they had a touch tank with little rays in them, and Terry Jr remembered liking those when the class went on a field trip.

He decides to get the cookie dough ice cream when he goes to the aquarium with Ron.

Ron tries again that Friday, when Terry Jr finds out he failed his science test. "That's okay buddy," Ron says, visibly deciding whether he should reach up and pat Terry Jr on the shoulder or not, "I'm not even totally sure DNA is real anyway." Terry Jr rolls his eyes, but decides to hold his tongue. He agrees to go to the aquarium, as long as he gets to pick the music on the way over. Ron is a little too enthusiastic.

There's no conversation during the drive, Terry Jr's choice of music makes sure of that. It's some loud, screeching guitar that Nick From Soccer suggested and it gets the job done. Ron tries to hum along, but there's no discernable rhythm to the song, so he can't keep up. Good.

Once they're inside, (Ron tried to haggle the admission price until Terry Jr pulled him away) Terry Jr makes a beeline for the touch tanks. He's taller than Ron, and faster, so he loses him in the crowd pretty quick. For some reason Terry Jr simply couldn't fathom, the touch tanks weren't the most popular exhibit, so it was just him and one little girl, staring at a starfish through the glass. Ron finally caught up to him, panting, after Terry Jr had not only pet each individual sea urchin, but named them all in his head. Ron is, thankfully, quiet for awhile, but nothing good lasts forever.

"Did you know that sea urchins have teeth that can drill through rock?"

Terry Jr sighs. "No, Ron, I didn't. Tell me more."

"Okay!" Terry Jr has to surpress a groan. Why did he think sarcasm would work? "Sea urchins can live for a really long time. The red ones can live up to 150 years! Or was it 200? Uh, split the difference. 250 years. That's uhh... cool... right?"

That is pretty cool, but Terry Jr doesn't want to give him the satisfaction. He makes his way to the shark tank, and that's the extent of the fish facts. When they get home, his mom asks them how it went, and he just goes to his room. He has to turn his music up to muffle the sound of Ron talking excitedly.

"A group of jellyfish is called a smack. I think if I was at the beach and got surrounded by a bunch of jellyfish I would try to smack them too so that makes sense probably."

"I heard in the 90's some scientists sent some jellyfish to space. They had a bunch of jellyfish babies and when they came back to Earth the babies couldn't deal with the gravity and died."

"Oh. That's sad."

Terry Jr was starting to notice a pattern. If something went wrong in school, Ron took him to the aquarium. If he got into an argument with his mom, Ron took him to the aquarium. If Ron found him in a bad mood, he took him to the aquarium. He didn't really get it, it's not like this was his favorite place or anything, but it went from annoying to... tolerable. Plus, Terry Jr was doing better in science class now that they were talking about the ocean.

"Terry Jr, look! This says that some jellyfish can eat peanut butter!" Ron is gesturing emphatically to a sign next to the exhibit, displaying some "fun facts" about their jellies. "Do you think it would count as cannibalism if someone fed it a peanut butter and jelly sandwich?"

That was, Terry Jr thought, a pretty decent joke by Ron standards. At least, he hoped it was a joke. "I don't know, Ron," Terry Jr put his hands in his pockets, "maybe we should ask someone who works here."

Terry Jr still doesn't like Ron, no way, but he's been acting weird even by his standards and it's been bumming Terry Jr's mom out. It's not his business, and he doesn't really care, but he feels a sense of obligation to check it out. For his mom, of course. Not Ron.

"Are you doing anything today?"

Ron looks up with a start from his sandwich (peanut butter and jelly, but all they had was apricot jelly so it's an orange mess) when Terry Jr acknowledges him, and shakes his head. "Today is my day off from Business. Do you need help with something, kiddo?"

'Kiddo' aside, Terry Jr steels his resolve and follows through. Ron didn't raise him at all, but his dad didn't raise a quitter. "It's not important or anything. I was wondering if you could take me to the aquarium. I read a new shark just got born and I want to see it."

Ron is ready to go within minutes.

The shark is weird looking. Terry Jr isn't sure what he was expecting, but the thing just looked off. Like someone put a shark through google translate and then back through again. Ron, however, seems to hold no reservation, staring at the pup swim next to its mother back and forth through the tank.

"Great White sharks eat around eleven tons of food a year."

Ron just nods, staring into the tank blankly. Terry Jr furrows his brow. He'd never gotten such a lukewarm response before. He just turns back to the tank and watches everything for awhile, until the silence becomes unbearable even for him. "So, like, are you good, or...?"

That, at least, seems to snap Ron out of it. He looks at his stepson briefly, before directing his gaze ahead again. "Yeah. I think I just have a hard time this time of year. You don't have to worry about it though, buddy."

"You can talk. If you want. I might not have advice, but I think I'm an okay listener." This was a spot Terry Jr found himself in many times with friends from school. Just listen until they're done talking, and try to help afterwards.

Ron doesn't talk, for awhile, and Terry Jr's about to rattle off another shark fact when he opens his mouth again.

"My, uh, my dad died. Twenty years ago this week. It's just weird."

Terry Jr very pointedly does not look at his stepfather, and keeps his gaze leveled at some fake coral in the tank. He doesn't know much about Ron's life, but he's overheard his mother at night. He knows Ron's dad did wrong by him, and maybe that's why he is the way he is. Terry Jr wouldn't know. Terry Sr was a very good father.

"He liked fish a lot. He actually died trying to catch one. It pulled him off the boat, and I couldn't pull him back in. He was a big guy, very manly and muscular. Much like myself, haha."

Holy shit, Terry Jr thought, at least he didn't see his dad die in front of him. It would be fucked up if he had to watch something like that.

"He took me to the aquarium sometimes, just like this. He knew everything about the fish, and he seemed happy when he was talking about them. Happy to talk to me."

Ron's voice is wavering now, but Terry Jr still doesn't look at him. He doesn't need an audience for this.

"I can't always read people, Terry Jr. I don't always understand what people need. I know you don't want me to be your dad, and I don't know if you like these trips as much as I do, but I care about you, Terry Jr. I need you to know that I care about you. You don't have to care about me, but I want you to know that I'm in your corner and--"

In that moment, Terry Jr did something he never saw himself doing.

He wrapped his arms around Ron Stampler and gave him a hug.

"Did you know that if a whale gets separated from its family, a new pod of whales might adopt it? They see a stranger like them by itself, and they just give it a new place to be. Isn't that cool?"

Ron didn't respond for a minute, taking a few deep breaths. Finally, in a meek, soft voice, Terry Jr heard "No, Terry Jr, I didn't know that. Tell me more."

Awkwardly, Terry Jr patted his stepfather on the back a few times before pulling away. "Let's talk about it in the car. I'm tired of looking at this weird shark."

It was before turning up the music and after buckling their seatbelts that Terry Jr spoke next, as they started the short drive home.

"Did you know that a sperm whale never forgets a friend?"

"Hehehe, sperm whale."

Jesus fucking Christ.

**Author's Note:**

> Answer to the title: they both have three tender hearts inside :)


End file.
